England’s Lottie Woad sits just a shot off the lead after the opening round of the LPGA Tour’s season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Florida.
Woad mixed six birdies with a lone bogey during an opening-round 67 at Lake Nona Golf and Country, leaving her tied-second and a shot behind early pacesetter Nasa Hataoka.
The Englishwoman followed three birdies in a four-hole stretch from the third by taking advantage of the par-five ninth, then added successive birdies from the 13th before a final bogey dropped her back to five under.
Woad shares second spot with world No 1 Jeeno Thitikul, Chanettee Wannasaen and Sweden’s Linn Grant, as Hataoka grabbed the early lead after finishing a six-under 66 with two birdies in her last four holes.
“Could have been better; could have been worse,” Woad said afterwards. “I need to work on my driving a little bit. Just missed a couple of fairways. The last hole, shouldn’t have missed it there. Other than that, everything was pretty solid.
“I feel like I’m pretty strategic and plot my way around. I want to keep it like that.”
Thitikul had six birdies and a bogey on Thursday to climb the leaderboard in a tournament open to LPGA Tour winners from the past two seasons. Wannasaen had seven birdies during her round of 67, while Grant birdied her last two holes to also get into the group at five under.
Nelly Korda is two off the pace after two bogeys in her last three holes dropped her back to four under with Amy Yang, Lydia Ko is among the group of five players opening with a three-under 69 and England’s Charley Hull five back after a two-under 70.
Watch the second round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions live on Friday from 4.30pm on Sky Sports Mix. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.
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